You know that your business needs social media marketing. (If you disagree with that statement, please read this first.) What you may not know is exactly how much social media marketing your company needs and what it should cost.

When you can find so many social media marketing packages available online, which do you choose? Which will deliver the results you want without breaking your budget? Do you really need to spend thousands of dollars each month for ample social media marketing services?

Like many business owners, you’ve probably spent a lot of time creating your social media marketing strategy, then spent just as much time implementing it.

If you have the resources, you may have even hired a social media specialist to run your various profiles. But is your strategy really working? There are some business owners out there who would talk about how many followers they get or how many likes they have, but those numbers don’t necessarily equate to an increase in sales. Here are some measurements you can use to determine if your social media marketing strategy is really working.

Social media contests are a great way to spread the buzz and get your fans and audience excited, engaged and talking about you. You’ll also find that a successful contest will produce an exponential increase in reach and overall talk about your brand.

The best part? A user-generated social contest can be run without spending much at all, as it typically starts snowballin’ amongst itself.

So what to do?

Here are 4 types of contests you can try now -- and 5 things you’ll need to do to get them going successfully!

Not many people know which social media is best for their company.

There are so many on the internet these days you don’t even know where to start. So where do you start? That’s the question I suppose everyone asks themselves. But before I continue let’s just get something straight, you shouldn’t be on every platform! It’s so easy to create so many accounts but why would you want to be on Pinterest when your a Doctor.

So how do we categorize social media sites?

Ask yourself these 3 important questions.

Who is my audience?

What is the purpose of [blank] network?

What is its functionality?

Let’s have a rundown on a few popular networks so you see what I mean.

Many businesses may be a bit skeptical about social media. A lot of questions may run through your mind when wondering which social media is the best for you company.

Does it cost? How many posts a day? Some may even think they don’t have time for using social media.

Here are 5 common misconceptions of social media.

1. It’s free.

Social platforms are definitely free but if you want to be successful on social media you have to want to invest money on it. If you want to use organic reach just know that it’s extremely limited if you want to get noticed. Imagine you are at a concert, the people who are all the way in the front paid a lot of money to be there, then there’s the middle part of the concert venue where it wasn't as expensive but it’s neither free and you can still see perfectly. Then there’s the free ticket that doesn’t exist unless you win it but that winning ticket is one out of who knows how many others. In the end it’s better to invest in order to be seen on social media platforms. The days of free-and-easy organic social media exposure is long gone!

In a social media environment that is increasingly commercial, content that reflects the best of the human spirit –our impulse to help, empower, and protect, is bound to generate deeper engagement with social media audiences. What this means for your non-profit organization, is that you are in a unique position to harness the power of social media in order to obtain: - Supporters for cause - Donations - Volunteers - Visibility

The Power of Social Media

Still, many organizations are not harnessing the power of Facebook, twitter, and Instagram to reach their goals.

You can use social media marketing to connect with your customers, help new customers find your business, and build relationships! Since many small business owners and employees are familiar with at least one social media network, it can be easy to get started. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn all offer free accounts and Pages for businesses, too, so there’s no up-front monetary expense.

Managing social media, though, especially if your company has Pages on multiple networks, can be time-intensive. And when you’re running a small business, your time might be better spent serving customers, keeping track of finances, and managing employees.

Should you make the jump?

Five reasons to use social media tools

You can see feeds from all of your social media channels in one place. Jumping back and forth from site to site can be a big part of the social media time suck. If this sounds like a typical day for you online, consider trying out a tool that has this feature.

You can post to any combination of your social media channels. Similarly, many social media tools make the updating process faster. You don’t have to post to every channel every time, too - pick and choose which ones get updated each time. You’ll save time and effort.

It makes it easier for someone else to step in. Once you’ve set up a social media tool with all of your accounts, it’s easy to share access with a co-worker. If you’re sick or away, share just one login with your co-worker instead of five!

You can learn more about your social media performance. Many tools offer analytics and reporting. You won’t need to go to yet another site to see which links get clicked on, what content gets shared, and how often people are talking to or about you. This gives you instant feedback on what’s working, enabling you to do more of that! You can even share the report with co-workers, too.

You can check and update your social media channels anywhere. Switching from social media site to site is a pain on your computer, but it can be twice as annoying on a smartphone! While all of the major social media networks now have their own apps, you can save time by checking your social media tool’s single app while you’re on the go. This makes it easy to check in if something’s getting a lot of activity.

Five reasons to not use social media tools

How many social media posts do you really read word for word? What makes you stop your scrolling and take notice?

Make sure you include compelling social media copy in all of your posts - even if you’re posting to share a video, photo, or link. Even though Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ will make your post look appealing by providing a video, photo, or link embed, you’ll miss an opportunity to engage your reader if you don’t include a relevant caption.

Keep It Simple

Think again about how you browse social media. You probably skim posts, right? Make sure your copy is easy to understand even at a glance. Unless your social media audience is primarily made up of professionals who are well-versed in and expect high-level content, you probably want to write simple, easy-to-read copy, using a tone of voice that’s consistent with your branding, that includes clear headlines and calls-to-action.

You don’t know who makes up the majority of your audience and what they expect? Read on…

It’s easy and free to get your company started on social media. After just a few minutes’ worth of set-up, you’ll have your accounts up and running! But how do you know if your social media activity is actually helping out your business?

Social media should be the first step on your customer’s journey — NOT their final destination!

It’s exceptionally gratifying to see your follower counts go up as you spend time online. Are those followers converting into paying customers, though?

Keep in mind that social media is at its most valuable when it refers prospective customers to your eCommerce website or your brick-and-mortar location.

Provide thoughtful opportunities for customers to visit your website, learn about your services, and take the next step towards converting. But make sure that these opportunities are written with your audience’s motivators and needs in mind! They’ll be more likely to click through to your site if they believe you’ll be able to provide personal value to them.

About Us

Bloominari is a San Diego based, full-service digital marketing and creative design agency dedicated to providing small businesses with solutions to increase their customer base and grow their brands and companies online.

Our team has the creative ideas, the ambitious drive and the know-how that only comes with more than a decade of experience.